“The Next Day” will be available March 12, with the lead single “Where Are We Now” already available for purchase on iTunes. According to The Guardian, Bowie has no plans for interviews or live dates. A spokesman for the musician said he “writes and performs what he wants when he wants.”

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Photos of David Bowie throughout the last decade, including photos of his last performance in Denver at the Fillmore Auditorium in 2004.

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Photos of David Bowie throughout the last decade, including photos of his last performance in Denver at the Fillmore Auditorium in 2004.

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Photos of David Bowie throughout the last decade, including photos of his last performance in Denver at the Fillmore Auditorium in 2004.

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Photos of David Bowie throughout the last decade, including photos of his last performance in Denver at the Fillmore Auditorium in 2004.

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Photos of David Bowie throughout the last decade, including photos of his last performance in Denver at the Fillmore Auditorium in 2004.

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Photos of David Bowie throughout the last decade, including photos of his last performance in Denver at the Fillmore Auditorium in 2004.

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Photos of David Bowie throughout the last decade, including photos of his last performance in Denver at the Fillmore Auditorium in 2004.

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Photos of David Bowie throughout the last decade, including photos of his last performance in Denver at the Fillmore Auditorium in 2004.

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Photos of David Bowie throughout the last decade, including photos of his last performance in Denver at the Fillmore Auditorium in 2004.

The consensus had been Bowie had retired, seeing as his last album, “Reality,” was released in 2003, he hadn’t toured since supporting that record and it’s been about seven years since he’s performed live.

The album was produced by longtime Bowie collaborator Tony Visconti. The music video, seen below, was directed by Tony Oursler, is reminiscent of Bowie’s time spent in Berlin in the late ’70s. “He is seen looking in on footage of the auto repair shop beneath the apartment he lived in along with stark images of the city at the time and a lyric constantly raising the question Where Are We Now?” Bowie’s website explains.

Bowie, born in London in 1947, staged his new video in Berlin, where he lived for part of his singularly styled career. Bowie amalgamated rock with dapper fashion, theatrical highjinx, kitschy cabaret, mime, mysticism, androgyny, and just about any other stripe of rebellious, subversive entertainment. He also had commercial hits, including “Young Americans.”

David Bowie by the numbers:

Number of candles on David Bowie’s birthday cake: 66

Number of years since David Bowie released an album: 10

Number of countries in which iTunes is selling Bowie’s new single “Where Are We Now?”: 119

Number of Bowie’s studio recordings: 30

Number of Bowie albums sold since 1969: 130,000,000+

Number of Bowie interviews scheduled, according to a Bowie representative: 0

Number of Bowie live dates scheduled, according to a Bowie representative: 0

Check out our slideshow of the different looks of David Bowie since his last album.

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Kelsey Fowler is currently studying nothing music-related at Ithaca College. Help keep her in the loop on Twitter.

Colleen Smith, a longtime freelancer at The Denver Post, is the author of the novel “Glass Halo” and the gift book “Laid-Back Skier.”